Israeli police and military prepared for widespread protests in Jerusalem and across the West Bank as the fourth day of Israel's aerial campaign against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip drew to a close on Friday and the civilian death toll continued to rise.

Israeli authorities limited access to Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque to women and men over 50, and extra police units were deployed in flashpoints across the Old City in anticipation of clashes with Palestinian residents.

Israeli military and police officials told the Guardian that the end of Friday prayers and the Ramadan fast, as well as the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, combined to create a potentially explosive atmosphere.

But the main street in Shuafat, a Palestinian neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, was deathly quiet on Friday afternoon. Last week this area witnessed some of the worst violence in more than a decade following the kidnap and murder of Mohamed Abu Khdeir, who was killed apparently in retribution for the deaths of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank in June. The barrage of fire between Gaza and Israel, which has claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives, is an escalation of this violence.

Sirens sounded across Israel on Friday as a barrage of missiles was fired from Gaza towards Ashkelon, Beersheba, Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion airport, Haifa and Jerusalem. According to the Israeli military, there were 44 before midday, most of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system. At least one rocket was fired from Lebanon.

In a back room of the Ali Bin Abu Talib mosque, the imam Suleiman Abu Khdeir and his mua'than, or prayer-caller, Ihab Abu Khdeir, said they regretted that the protests had not continued. "We should have handled the situation with Mohamed better. If we had continued the protests, we could have prevented the war in Gaza," the mua'than said.

They said the war in Gaza had been planned by Israel following the abduction and murder of the three Israeli teens. "They always planned to attack Gaza following the kidnapping. The death of Mohamed only delayed it," said Suleiman

When asked whether they support the firing of rockets from Gaza targeting Jerusalem, which in some cases have landed only a few miles from their homes, everyone in the room nodded their heads. "Even if they hit my house, I would still support them," Ihab said.

Across the road from the mosque, Mohamed's father and uncle sat in the shade outside the family home waiting out the final hours of fasting before Ramadan. The house, which was inundated by journalists and protesters a week earlier, was now circled by only a handful of reporters with cameras. "I believe they went into Gaza to distract from the death of my son," said Hussein Abu Khdeir, Mohamed's father.

Both men support Hamas in the current conflict and are scathing of the Palestinian Authority and what they said were its efforts to prevent solidarity protests with Hamas and Gaza in the West Bank and Jerusalem. "Israel has the backing both Egypt and the Palestinian Authority," said Saeed Abu Khdeir, Mohamed's uncle.

And as for the rockets, neither Saeed nor Hussein were concerned. "We were not afraid of Saddam when he was firing rockets here, we supported him – why should we be afraid now?" said Saeed.

Back in the mosque, there was a consensus. The people of Gaza had nothing to lose by going to war with Israel, Ihab said, and Israelis should be concerned about a new generation of angry young people.

"You destroy my home and destroy my life and then you wonder why I support Hamas. You take a six-year-old boy that is growing up without his parents because they were killed by Israel – all that boy will ever think about is revenge."